A Russian soldier at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, August 4, 2022 (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy Push for Maximum Support for Global Peace Summit

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1100 GMT:

Confirming his shift of position, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Ukraine’s use of German and other Western-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia will not “contribute to escalation”.

Scholz had long held out against provision of weapons, including long-range Taurus missiles, to Kyiv because they might be used inside Russia.

But amid Russia’s 26-day cross-border offensive into the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, he joined French President Emmanuel Macron last week in saying that the Ukrainians could fire on positions supporting the assault.

“We are certain that it will not contribute to an escalation because — as [US President Joe Biden] has also described — it is only a matter of being able to defend a large city like Kharkiv,” Scholz said. “And I think it is clear to everyone that this must be possible. Under international law, this has always been possible anyway.”

UPDATE 1052 GMT:

One civilian has been killed and two injured by Russian attacks on the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

The Russians bombarded the villages of Veletenske and Bilozerka. In the former, an elderly woman in the yard of her house.

A 55-year-old woman suffered blast and shrapnel injuries in a building in the center of Bilozerka. An 81-year-old woman in the street has a concussion and blast and head injuries.

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

On a train in southwest Russia, soldiers travelling to the frontline in Ukraine tell The Moscow Times of their exhaustion and resignation in Vladimir Putin’s 27-month invasion.

The Times writes of Pavel, a senior specialist at a large Russian company who now manages anti-aircraft systems and plans offensives.

Sometimes, Pavel finds himself in the difficult position of sending squads of men into an attack, well aware that their chances of survival are slim. It is a distraction tactic meant to pull enemy forces’ attention from the main offensive taking place elsewhere.

“I can’t tell the men, otherwise they wouldn’t fight with the hope of winning,” the soldier explains, his eyes glistening with emotion.

“And after all this, you don’t sleep well,” he says, pointing to the grey hairs on his head that have appeared in recent months.

The Times explains:

The soldiers describe the front line as hell on earth. The losses on the Russian side are enormous: hundreds each day, some of the men say. Drones sow death from the sky, finishing off wounded soldiers on the battlefield where they lay.

Yegor, from Tatarstan, says, “Many young guys I knew are dead, they weren’t even 30….Only a few among us who were mobilized are left.

Yegor was injured by a tank shell in December. Despite shrapnel still lodged in his leg and a diagnosis of PTSD, he has been declared fit to return to the frontline.

“If I didn’t risk five years in prison for desertion, I would get off the train now and go home, even by foot,” he says. “This war is pointless.”

UPDATE 0722 GMT:

Around 15 women protested outside the Russian Defense Ministry building in Moscow on Monday, demanding the return of relatives drafted for the invasion of Ukraine.

The women, some with small children, sought a meeting with new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. They held handwritten placards such as “Bring My Mobilized Husband Home”.

Despite threats and intimidation, the mothers and wives have periodically demonstrated, laying flowers at the walls of the Kremlin.

Last week Russian authorities labelled their organization Put Domoy (The Way Home) a “foreign agent”.

UPDATE 0711 GMT:

At least seven civilians, including a month-old baby and a 17-year-old boy, have been injured in Russian missile strikes on Dnipro city in south-central Ukraine.

Governor Serhii Lysak said air defense systems successfully intercepted and downed two missiles. However, debris damaged 16 high-rise buildings, 31 private houses, a school, and a hospital.

Russian forces also attacked the city of Nikopol with Iran-type attack drones, but no casualties were reported.

UPDATE 0701 GMT:

Italy is sending a second SAMP/T air defense system to Ukraine, says Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The Italian-French system, known as Mamba, can track dozens of targets and intercept 10 at once. It is the only European-made system that can intercept ballistic missiles.

UPDATE 0650 GMT:

The Institute for the Study of War assesses that Ukraine likely used a US-supplied HIMARS rocket system to strike an air defense battery in Russia’s Belgorod region last weekend.

The attack on the S-300/S-400 battery in the border region came days after the Biden Administration partially lifted a ban on strikes inside Russia with the American munitions.

See some Ukraine War, Day 828: Biden — Some US-Supplied Weapons Can Be Used Inside Russia

Geolocated images show two destroyed launchers and a damaged command post of the air defense system, north of Belgorod city and around 60 km (37 miles) from the frontline in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

Russian sources widely speculated on the use of the HIMARS, but Ukrainian officials have yet to comment.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine continues to pose a serious risk, says International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi.

Grossi, who met Russian officials in Kaliningrad last week, pointed to recurrent shelling near Europe’s largest nuclear plant: “The attacks and the frequent disconnection of the off-site power lines due to military activity are creating a grave situation.”

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the shelling that has downed power lines, threatening the colling system for Zaporizhzhia’s six reactors. Last month a reactor building was struck by drones.

Grossi chided:

There shouldn’t be any bombing or any activity of this type.

Then there should be a more stable assurance of external power supply. This requires repairs, important repairs of existing lines, which at the moment, and because of the military activity, are very difficult to envisage.

Grossi: Unsafe to Restart Plant

Russia seized the plant in the first days of its 27-month invasion. It turned the complex into a military base, using it to attack Ukrainian-held territory across the Dnipro River.

Five of the six reactors are in cold shutdown. The sixth is in hot shutdown, providing heat and steam to a nearby town.

Grossi again dashed the hopes of Russian officials to restart the reactors.

The Russians said after last week’s meeting that they have no plans to fire up the reactors, but Grossi noted, “They are not planning to decommission this nuclear power plant. So this is what prompts the need to have a discussion about that.”